What weird weather we're having #7

i do pretty well in an emergency. used to be a an EMT before our county had paramendics (down in cali) so we couldnt freak out. also when my kids were little i was never one of those moms that is my kids fell and got a scrape i wouldnt run over and poo-poo all over them. i waited for that specific cresendoing cry to let me know if it was really serious or not. i tell them get up your not broke and when they did want something for a boo boo or whatever... tums, bandaids and ice cubes cured everything!

it is stormin' norman here today... started last night with some wind and rain rain rain... first we get hit from the west then the north and the wind is kicking up again... so its going to be a blustery day. knocked over both my xmas deer in the front and peeled off soem of the roofs xmas lights (again this year) at least so far there not ending up in the neighbors yard yet!

stay warm and becareful everyone!

Katie thank you for reminding us about that poem. One of my favorites and oh so appropriate now!
12" of snow on the ground here and still snowing - not as much as some of you have gotten but a lot for Portland. People are playing & skiing in the streets.

photo today

photo

everything's so pretty in the snow!

I flat out told him I was not coming in, we got hit with another 6 to 10" during the night, after all that clearing "For nothing" !!!!
A few flurries this morning. Suns trying to come out. thats going to make a more of a mess.

Love the poem.

Glad you all are doing good. a lest trying too.

The dogs, staying out of the deep stuff. they have been following behind me staying in my path. like a little train

Smart puppies!

Beautiful pics Portland....Winter Wonderland everywhere.

We're still clear, the forecast is for snow flurries....I think they're trying to cover their ----- in case it snows! LOL

Well it is snowing again today.28 deg .. Maybe a new snowman later... Was able to go to the store very early this morning to get the sugar to make cookies. The roads were still very icy so I went very slow.
Many downed tree branches from some large oaks. We had at least 8 power failures yesterday. After the second one...my fireplace pilot light went out and I can not get it restarted. Did have the electrican out on friday to fix the smoke alarm and a new problem that developed thursday night. All the above head lights went dead in half of the house. I flipped the circuit breaker but that did not fix the problem. Well the smoke alarm just need a battery replacement. I had him change a light bulb in the vaulted ceiling too. (as long as he was up there!!) :
They found the problem with the upper lights. Well the builder put the sump pump on the same circuit!! Idiot! Well, only 1K and I can have it redone properly. It will need to wait for awhile...kids college & taxes come first! Its always something!

Kathy..nice to see Robert Frost's poem. I had to memorize that one in grade school for some event. Still remember it today..although I can't remember what I had for lunch yesterday ! It's heck getting older.
Well..back to biscotti... :

This message was edited Dec 22, 2008 11:35 AM

Shokami, that's funny, "I wouldn't run over and poo-poo all over them." Well, I should hope not!! LOL. Just kidding, I know what you mean. I think some kids are more scared by their parents' reaction than by falling down. Last fall one of my great-nephews got caught in some of that native dewberry than runs along the ground. It didn't bother him initially until he saw the blood and it started to sting. He told his mother that he needed a doctor and she reminded him that his great uncle up at the house was a doctor (this surprised him, I'm sure, because a doctor off duty in casual clothes playing with kids and dishing out ice cream does not seem ver doctorly). But he did let my brother tend his wound because Dave brought down some "special" lime green wrap.

Lo and behold, a few minutes later, all five of the cousins were running around, each with a wrap someplace on his or her arm or leg.

Mary, cute picture of the dogs. Mine (who's ancestors were Borzoi and typically love everything snow) have even hit their limit. It's just too hard to get through it when it's this deep. And Vana does not like those little snowball thingies in her pads . . .

Katie, well this was just weird. I put my foot too far forward on the second step
(completely covered in snow) and slipped, but the ice didn’t break when I hit it, but my foot slid under the ice I hit.

Shokami, the snow is defiantly beautiful. We’re beginning to get some melt here.

Not the greatest picture but check this out!!!

Here they come again.

If he comes back I will see if I can get a better shot....until we were at a friends in Portland year before last in the ice and snow I never knew humming birds stayed here year round! Don't think the bird bath will get much use until I can wade out and empty it....

Still a little color

My house from across the golfcourse

Love the deer......wish I was where they could come up to the house like that...it is probably hard for them to find food in this much snow.......

Love your hummer shot Zm. There is plenty for them to eat in the woods with the sasal and huckleberry. Yesterday they were pruning the heather and camelia. And cleaning up the leftover Anemone. A picture of my smoke tree and an elm.

Out across the 12th green.

The southeast side of the house

further down the side.

The mailbox

side view

The lady from Ipanema?

Happy Holidays to you all!

And a Christmas Fairy!

Love the Hummer shot.

love the deer to, to cool. The pic of the house from across the coruse is a winter card. Love it and all your others.

I got one of those bird baths

Was just looking out the window, and watched Ester slam Tyler in to the snow head first. they are haveing alot of fun.

Took this last night the tree under the vapor light.

Incredible pictures!! All of you.

zhinusmom...how do you keep the hummer feeder from freezing? I brought mine in when we got into the teens.

Willow...nice shot of the deer, there were some doing that here until my apple tree ran out of apples.LOL
Your house is beautiful and I love your mailbox.

bea...hope you get your cookies done.

Still clear here, but getting colder tonight.

I usually just put a small amount in once or twice a day when it is really freezing out like it has been lately....Most of the time it is cold, but not freezing so it can go several days....The glass on my feeder is really thick and I have it under the eaves close to the front window and it is relatively protected there....so far, so good.

Had mine under an eave, but maybe not protected enough. I'll trying another spot. Mine is glass and pretty heavy, but it's the kind with the flowers around the bottom. Hmmmmm...if I bring it up under the covered deck, I can see them better! Was trying to avoid spillage drawing ants, no problem right now.

Wow, i'm really far behind.... this is good. I'm glad that every one is chiming in with what's going on!

Katie, thanks for the Poem! It's very appropriate! A for this being normal.... The amount of snow at my place is a little bit more than normal. What's different is that it doesn't go away during the day. Normally it might snow 4 inches, melt 2, snow 6" melt away completely, 2 days dry, snow 5" more, melt. You get the idea. The place where I'm on the tractor is where I'm house/pet sitting from dec.15th through Jan10/11th. I've been staying there during those dates for the last 5 or so years. Normally I only have to take the tractor out once or twice a week. So far it has been at least once a day, and a couple of times the neighbor has come over in the middle of the day and went over it again so that I could get in the driveway!! Put that with the snowplow not going by at all on a couple of days, the power going out, taking my chains on and off twice a day, and the fact that I had to be at my new job at 4am this morning........ Shadow is now at my place, where I only have about 5" of snow (although it's snowing now)! He's going to stay here at least through mid next week. I might consider going back there then! Thanks for the condolensces on my phone! I really miss it since I store almost all of my contacts and friends phone numbers in there.

Amazing photos from Everyone!!

Portland, I'm so amazed that you have a foot of snow. That's crazy!

Willow, I love the one looking out across the 12th green!

Tilly, your "train" is one of the best looking ones that i've seen! I'm glad that you stood your ground with your boss.

Beahive, did you ever get the cookies done? :-p ( I might have missed it somewhere)

Tricia, careful what you wish for with the deer! They drive me nuts in my yard, but they are worse in the yard of the folks that I've been doing some landscaping for. At first I had wire cages around any tree that was planted that has branches below 6' high. Then, just the other day I saw where they had been scraping more than half the bark off of a cherry and a magnolia tree with their antlers. So, I spent a couple of hours today cutting chicken wire and putting it around the trunks of every tree in the yard that didn't already have a wire cage around it. Very unsightely to say the least, but much better for the trees. They ate a lavender and rosemary hedge about a month ago, in addition to every thing else that I'm used to seeing them eat.

Sally, when I was in Eugene today I thought that the weather seemed pretty mild compared to what it had been. When I left Eugene it all seemed fine and I thought that some of the snow would have been melted when I got home. Right when I got to the top of Lookout Reservoir, it drastically shifted from mild rain and clear roads and a 1/2 mile later there was 2" of snow on the highway and it was coming down like crazy. 3 cars that had been only a minute or two ahead of me were in the ditch, I stopped to slow down the passing traffic and call folks (on a barrowed cell phone!) for them and then went about my way once others arrived. About a mile before Oakridge it switched back to just a dusting of snow as abruptly as it started. It was very Odd!!! i'm so glad that I bit the bullet and bought the best all season tires that fit my car about 4 or 5 weeks ago, had them syped as well. I was not wanting to spend that much, but decided to not be as cheap as I usually am. I think that was one of the wiser decisions that I've made in a long time!! What is it doing down in Eugene now?



this is a picture that my sister sent me today of the rd (usually two lanes) that leads to her house. she lives sort of by Hermiston. Those are my nephews. The taller on is 4'11" tall.

This message was edited Dec 22, 2008 10:04 PM

Sally - ants abhor cold temps (no access to fur coats).

I ran a non-scientific experiment last week & over the weekend. I placed plastic bottles of water out in several places, to determine potential locations for overwintering plants, since most homes radiate heat.
The bottles were placed next to the wall under the eaves, 3' out under the front porch,
6' out between 2 evergreen shrubs, & 8' out under a Chamaecyparis with very low branches. The one at 3' froze solid at 26°, & the one next to the wall finally froze at 18°. The other 2 froze solid at 30°.
I think this would be a decent temporary solution (for tender plants), especially if they are wrapped/covered.
This might work for the Hummingbird feeder, too - if it's placed right next to the house. Below 20°, survival is dubious.

Someone described this mess as being like twilight zone.....sounds like that's what you went through. You know there's one patch on I5, just after 30th, that always rains harder than everywhere else.

That taller one is a ham for sure!! That is a lot of snow!

It's clear and dry right now. The rain has stopped, but it's down to 33 on the deck, supposed to get down to 25, so it depends on the rain/snow how it'll be tomorrow.

I was dealing with lost data today,I changed the batteries in my organizer months ago in the wrong order, went brain dead I think. Anyway lost it all, tore this house apart today trying to find anything with the address of a friend I worked with in CA. Couldn't find it. Got home, the phones beeping, she had called, left a message, Happy Holidays, yadayada...guess I'll talk to you next year. She's not one for phones, it's usually me that calls. But get this, she called 10 min before I got home. I was so bummed. The fun part was rounding up all the anniversaries, bdays, etc. for the kids and grandkids. What a pain. Now I have a palm pilot with backup.

We got new tires an few months ago too. Always get good seasonal, worth it in the long run.

This message was edited Dec 22, 2008 10:39 PM

Katye....that's why I said the ants weren't a problem right now. Got this picture of ants in fur coats. LOL
I'll have to try what you did, but we don't usually get temps this low, so maybe if I keep it protected it'll be enough.

I know my deck gets cold, that's why my cymbidiums come in for the winter, I lost a couple I had covered up on the deck. I thought it was because I didn't put something under them to stop the cold from below. Need to just try different places I think.

Sally, what are typical December through January temperatures for you?

zhinusmom..how neat to have a hummingbird this time of year. I had an unusual visitor in my pond today.
Shot taken from indoors as I did not want to scare it away. Not sure what it was, but it was very pretty with a very long bill. I have not seen one before.

We rarely get below freezing, usually mid to high 30's lows and mid to high 40's highs. Like rc said, it snows and it's gone the next day. If it freezes at night, it melts before noon. She's higher than I am, so she gets more snow. We usually have a dusting. If it actually sticks and stays for more than one day, it's a treat. Only thing is, I think normal is changing. Never had a storm like the one in April since we've lived here. Then the bad thunder storms in June. The news is saying that this is a once in a decade occurrence and we've been here 10 yrs. so maybe it is normal. We broke a lot of records the last two weeks.

That's why I was always able to leave my cymbidiums out as long as they were covered if we had a freeze.

Bea...looked in my bird book and I think it's Wilson's Snipe. Gallinago delicata

There's a Common Snipe too. Gallinago gallinago This one looks grey, the other brown. But neither says anything about seasonal colors.

Thanks for the info, Sally. The snow pattern you described sounds similar to what we get here, and the temps run a few degrees cooler.
That snow in April was weird. The last time we had snow in April was 1985, and it lasted all of one day.
My experience with Orchids is limited to a couple years in Kona: too easy!